


Break the Ice

by holbytlanna



Series: Advent Calendar 2020 [4]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bless Jack Dalton, Family Fluff, Fever, Gen, Hypothermia, Ice Skating, Platonic Cuddling, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28148496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holbytlanna/pseuds/holbytlanna
Summary: Ice skating | Falling through ice | Ice and cold waterDowntime leads to ice skating, and ice skating leads to problems
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Advent Calendar 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042773
Comments: 12
Kudos: 32





	Break the Ice

Mac grew up in Southern California, where it was mostly pretty flat, and always pretty warm. Perfect conditions for rollerskating. He and Bozer used to race around on the street. They had their share of skinned knees and flayed hands, of course, but over time, they’d gotten pretty good at it. 

So when the team were sent on mission to frozen Canada, and had a day of downtime, they had been excited to find that there was a nice frozen lake nearby, perfect for skating. 

Mac wasn’t too sure that rollerskating skills (which he hadn’t actually used in years) would transfer over onto the ice, but Bozer was beyond confident. They rented some skates and loaded up a picnic dinner, ready to show off for Riley and Jack and then afterward watch the aurora.

Riley stayed to the edge of the lake, using a long stick as a crutch. As graceful as she was at nearly everything else, skating was just not her thing. Mac offered himself as a replacement crutch and to skate her around for a bit, but she declined with a laugh and went back to solid ground. “I know when I’m beat,” she had said, sitting down on a bench and setting up the picnic, watching and laughing at the boys’ antics.

Bozer was actually surprisingly graceful on his skates, even doing some tricks. Mac was too, but he got distracted. By himself. “Ice skating is actually totally different from rollerskating because of the lack of friction, but also because of the single blade. You see— whoa!” The rambling stopped as Mac fell on his ass with a squawk that had everyone laughing.

And Jack, who had never skated a day in his life, was acting like he could skate circles around them all. And he could not. Honestly, he would have been better off just scootching around on his butt.

All in all, they were having a great time, and were about to head off the ice toward their picnic as the sky started to get darker, when with an awful crunching sound and a strangled shout, they saw Mac fall through a rough patch in the ice. 

“Mac!” Jack cried out. He would never know how he got to Mac as quickly as he did, since he was so uncoordinated on the skates that were still strapped to his feet. Mac had dunked completely into the frigid water, but Jack grabbed his hand as he flailed. Using the blades on his heels to dig into the ice, he hauled Mac to safety. 

Riley had jumped up the second Mac had fallen, snatching the picnic blanket out from under the food and holding it ready for Mac. Jack was half dragging, half carrying him up the bank of the lake. 

Mac was pale, shaking violently. Riley draped the blanket over his shoulders and sopping-wet hair. 

“Alright, hoss, what’s say we call it a night, huh?” Jack was trying not to let how rattled he was show in his voice, and was partially successful, but the way he held onto Mac told a completely different story. Mac nodded shakily.

They bundled him into their car, blasting the heater. Jack let Bozer drive, opting to sit in the backseat with Mac.

“Jeez, hoss, my heart’s still going a million miles an hour. Warn me next time you plan on becoming a Macsicle, please?”

“I-I didn’ mean to,'' Mac muttered through chattering teeth. “The ice was th-thin there, I…”

“Yeah, I know it ain’t your fault.” Jack spent the drive rubbing up and down Mac’s arms and chest and back, trying to get him to stop shivering so badly. The heater was as high as it would go, but Jack still couldn’t get Mac warm.

Bozer pulled into the hotel parking lot, and Riley helped Jack get Mac — rapidly becoming less and less responsive — out of the car. They shuffled awkwardly to the stairs. While they were walking on flat ground, Mac could at least stagger along. But there was no way he could make it up stairs, even with help. Jack lifted him up in his arms, bridal style, as Bozer fumbled with the room key.

“Ri, get that shower running hot so I can warm him up,” Jack called as he hauled Mac inside.

Mac was muttering something. Jack had to move Mac’s head up near his ear to hear it. “Lukewarm. Gotta be lukewarm. Shock could… could kill me.”

Jack hastily relayed the information to Riley as he carried Mac around one of the beds and over toward the bathroom door. The shower was running, and Jack sat Mac down sitting on the counter so he could test the temperature of the water. It was on the warmer side of lukewarm, but not anywhere near hot. Jack wasn’t going to take any risks with throwing Mac even deeper into shock than the sudden frigid dunking had done.

“Alrighty then, Mac. Let’s get you warmed up.” Jack gently took Mac’s arms out of his puffy coat, and stripped off the soaked layers of clothing. Mac’s skin was clammy and pale.

As Jack sat Mac in the bottom of the shower, the gentle stream of water hit Mac’s back and he hissed. And suddenly, Jack’s hands, a constant since he had been pulled out of the water, were gone. Just long enough for Jack to strip to his t-shirt and jeans, and then Jack was in the small shower with him, guiding the warm water over his body.

Jack continued the rubbing, up and down — arms, back, chest — getting warm blood to circulate through Mac’s body. He was pretty sure they had gotten to him in time to prevent frostbite, but he rubbed down Mac’s hands and feet anyway, just to be safe. As Jack ran water and his fingers through Mac’s hair, Mac closed his eyes, just about half asleep.

“Nope, you're not sleepin’ yet, kiddo. I ain’t lugging your slippery self out of this shower all by myself,” Jack groused as he turned off the water and stood up. He was soaked too, given that he had just shared a shower with Mac. “I’ll be right back, gonna get you some clothes.”

Mac wasn’t tracking anything at all, even though he was technically conscious. The air temperature shifted as Jack opened and closed the door, but he wasn’t shivering so bad anymore, and his bones had stopped aching from the cold.

Jack was back with an armful of dry clothes for the both of them. It took barely ten seconds for Jack to dry himself off and change, and then he helped Mac out of the shower. He slipped, wet feet on the laminate floor, but Jack caught him before he could hit his head on the counter. 

“Whoa now, let’s not brain ourselves, huh?”

If Mac had been half asleep earlier, he was almost all the way asleep now. Jack toweled off his partner, smiling at the soft moan Mac let slip as Jack scrunched the towel over his water-darkened hair. He pulled on Mac’s boxer briefs and sweatpants, and Mac sat down hard on the toilet, exhaustion lining his pale face. 

“Almost done, brother, just lemme get a shirt on you.” Mac was truly asleep now. He gave Jack no help at all in getting his arms through the long sleeves of a thermal top. His hair stuck up in all directions, making Mac look for all the world like a sleeping teenage version of himself. 

Jack grumbled as he picked Mac up again, an indiscernible litany of “I’m too old for this, of course you fell asleep on me, you’re giving me grey hairs, kid.” He softly plonked Mac down on one side of the nearest bed, which Riley had blessedly already turned down for him. And with Mac all covered up and settled in, the team decided to call it a night. 

Riley took the other bed, and Bozer took the couch, and Jack clambered in next to Mac. His pulse was strong, if still a little slower than normal, even for resting. But it felt like he was warming up some, and hopefully Jack’s added body heat would help. Jack fell asleep with his hand at Mac’s wrist, tabbing his pulse even as they both slept.

—————

Oh yes, Mac was getting warm, alright. Too warm. 

When Jack woke up, it was because he was uncomfortably warm. He didn’t have to look far to figure out why.

Mac was drenched in sweat, darkening his hair and beading on his forehead. Jack pushed the hair away to feel his temperature, and wasn’t surprised to find Mac burning up. 

“You can’t make this easy on me, can you, Mac?” he whispered as Mac’s head rolled to the side and his breathing picked up. Maybe a dream, maybe just discomfort.

It was the middle of the night, and Jack could hear Riley’s even breathing and Bozer’s snoring. Mac was shaking again, his body trying to get him warm, despite the fact that the thermometer Jack scrambled to find and stuff under Mac’s tongue read 101 even. 

The  _ beepbeepbeep  _ of the finished thermometer woke Mac a little. His eyes fluttered open, looking up at Jack through the dark room.

“Jack?”

Jack was rummaging in the first aid kit for Tylenol, hoping it would be enough to get Mac’s fever manageable. “Yeah, kiddo?”

Mac blinked slowly. “Why’s it so cold, Jack?”

“Here, sit up for me and take these.” Jack helped Mac sit up, propping him up against the headrest. “Y’aint cold, Mac, you’ve got a fever. These should help.” Mac tossed back the Tylenol and a swig of water weakly, eyes looking heavily at Jack.

Jack let Mac doze against his shoulder for half an hour before taking his temperature again. It had gone down some, enough that he felt he didn’t need to pop Mac back in the tub. So Mac slept it off. He slept for hours, barely even waking as Riley’s alarm played and the team packed up and prepared to drive for exfil. He slept in the car, and he slept through the plane ride. 

After Riley and Bozer had been reassured by Jack that Mac was alright — just had a lot taken out of him from the shock of his impromptu swimming and the fever — the two of them took a few adorable blackmail pictures. Bozer had been growing his collection of blackmail materials since the fifth grade, and most of them consisted of pictures of Mac sleeping in various odd positions and places. The Phoenix jet was no exception.


End file.
